The sport's official, referred to as a "referee" in basketball and football and as an "umpire" in baseball, has a duty to administer the rules of a particular sport. Some of these rules require the official to keep track of time, and, more specifically, seconds. In addition, the sports official has other responsibilities, including monitoring the progress of a team, such as downs in football; outs, innings, and runs scored in baseball; and time limits, such as the amount of time a player can remain in a particular area on a basketball court.
As an example, in the rules of basketball, there is a 10-second back-court violation and several 5-second mid-court and front-court violations. These timed violations are counted and monitored by the referee. Traditionally, basketball referees count each second mentally. When electronic scoreboards were introduced, referees briefly tried to rely on the game clock to time the 5- or 10-second count. However, each time they looked away to observe the game clock, possible fouls or infractions were missed. Thus, it was determined that this method could not work. Rather, the referees returned to relying on their own mental count. To aid in keeping a continuous rhythm to their count, many referees adopted an arm or hand swinging motion.
In another example, in football the referee is responsible to count 25 seconds between plays. In high school games, the offensive team has 25 seconds to hike the ball after a previous play. Professional football permits 30 seconds to elapse before the ball must be hiked. At one time, football referees carried a stopwatch around their neck to time the seconds. Because it was too big and flopped around the chest area when running down the field, the referee attempted to hold the stopwatch stable with one hand while running. However, this made it difficult for the referee to run quickly. At the present time, football referees monitor the 25 seconds in one of three methods: (1) they mentally count the 25 seconds; (2) the referee will notice the time on the game clock and mentally deduct 25 seconds; and/or (3) the referee will carry a watch equipped with a second hand. Furthermore, the football referee is solely responsible for keeping track of the correct "downs." The referee is also responsible to make certain that the down marker on the sideline has the correct down displayed. According to the football referee's manual, a referee should never rely on the sideline down marker or assume that the chain and down marker people are correct. Rather, he or she must check the down marker after each play and correct it if necessary.
Referees have used a number of methods in attempting to keep track of downs. Typically, football referees use a conventional rubber band to keep track of downs. The rubber band is worn on the right wrist and, in turn, extends around each of the four fingers. If the rubber band is on the first finger, it is the first down; second finger is second down; third finger is third down; and fourth finger is fourth down. As the referee extends the rubber band, he will twist the rubber band once before putting it around his finger. This better secures the rubber band to that particular finger. After each play, the referee uses the fingers of his left hand to pick the stretched rubber band off the one finger and place it around the next finger on the right hand.
This particular method suffers from a number of disadvantages. First, it is often difficult to grab ahold of the rubber band with the fingers after each play. This is especially true during cold and rainy days when the referee wears gloves. In this case, the rubber band is simply too thin to easily grasp. Second, since the rubber band stretches across the top of the hand, it rubs and pulls hairs, causing discomfort and sometimes pain. This can be aggravated if the rubber band is too tight, which can also cut off blood circulation to the wrist and fingers. In addition, this method requires both hands to change from one finger to the next and results in a time delay as this is being accomplished. Furthermore, while the referee is changing the rubber band from one finger to the next, he is unable to hold, catch, or toss the football after a play. Finally, these rubber bands can easily break, many times causing pain to the referee, especially in cold weather, and causing confusion as to what the down was at the time the rubber band broke.
Recently, Honig's Officiating Supply Company located in Ann Arbor, Mich., began marketing an elastic down indicator that uses the same technique as the rubber band except that it is made out of a nylon material and is thicker than a rubber band. Although this may temporarily solve the disadvantages of cutting off the circulation and easy breaking, the remaining disadvantages discussed above still exist. This same company is also marketing a combination Finger Whistle/Down Indicator. This device is a combination whistle and down indicator that fits on a finger like a ring. It includes a small, non-electric, circular disk that is positioned behind the whistle. Because it is very small it is also difficult to see and read and it still takes two hands to update its information display.
For baseball, umpires currently use a plastic or metal hand-held indicator device. This device consists of round disks mounted in a plastic or metal casing. The disks have set numbers on them which appear in an opening on the casing. There are four openings across the casing, one each for balls, strikes, outs, and innings. The disks are slightly extended to the exterior of the side of the casing to enable the umpire to turn the disk. This method also suffers from a number of disadvantages. First, dirt and dust tend to get into the casing and rapidly scratch off the painted numbers, making them difficult to read. In addition, the device, being hand held, is easily dropped, causing dirt to be forced inside the casing and breakage to occur. Finally, the disks easily clog and become difficult to turn. Consequently, there is a need for a device that can concurrently monitor and display various types of information relating to sporting events and that is easily held and operated.